This invention relates to tapes and is concerned with tapes for applying security devices to goods and like articles.
The production and sale of counterfeit goods is an ever-increasing problem. Such counterfeit goods are frequently packaged so that they resemble the genuine goods as closely as possible with a view to misleading the purchaser into believing that genuine goods are being bought. This causes concern to the manufacturer of the genuine goods. Firstly, the counterfeit sales are sales which ordinarily the manufacturer of the genuine goods could reasonably expect to have made. More importantly, however, the counterfeit goods are often of inferior quality to the genuine goods and thus their sale can seriously damage the reputation of the manufacturer of the genuine goods since the purchaser of the inferior counterfeit goods will ordinarily assume that the goods are in fact genuine and will, in future, be less inclined to purchase the genuine goods. Further, in the case where the counterfeit goods are, for example, replacement brake shoes for a motor vehicle, they may not meet the quality control standards of the manufacturer of the original goods and may thus constitute a risk to the safety of the user.
It is therefore desirable to provide goods or the packaging for goods with a security device which will act as a guarantee that the goods are genuine goods. One known form of security device is a hologram. Conventionally, such holograms are applied by means of a hot foil stamping process. In this process, the holograms are formed on a carrier web provided with a heat activatable adhesive on its underside. Each hologram is applied to the goods or packaging by stamping it with a heated tool which cuts the hologram from the web, activates the adhesive, and presses the hologram against the surface of the goods or packaging. The process is relatively slow and therefore expensive.
It is known to provide cards or tickets with magnetic information representing monetary value such as, for example, phone cards for telephone services and tickets for transport services. The cards or tickets are normally prepaid and, when used to pay for the service associated therewith, they are read by an appropriate machine which determines whether or not the monetary value of the card is appropriate to the service required and, if it is, the service is provided. The magnetic information may be in the form of a magnetic strip carried by a support of, for example, card or plastics material. It is desirable to provide such cards or tickets and indeed other articles carrying magnetic information, such as credit cards, with a security device to prevent fraudulent use. However, as indicated above, there are difficulties in applying holographic security devices.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a simple technique whereby holograms may be applied to goods and other substrates.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a tape for applying to a substrate, to attach a security device to the substrate, which tape is formed from an oriented base film of thermoplastic plastics material coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive composition on one surface and with a release agent on another surface and including a security device in the form of a hologram.
By providing the hologram on a tape in this way, the hologram can be readily applied to the substrate by moving the tape and substrate along converging paths and then affixing the tape to the substrate by means of the adhesive.
Accordingly, another aspect of the present invention provides a method of attaching a security device to a substrate which comprises:
(i) providing a continuous tape as above defined,
(ii) causing the substrate to move along a substrate path,
(iii) moving the tape along a tape path,
(iv) bringing the paths together, and
(v) affixing the tape to the substrate by means of the adhesive